


The Most Important Meal of the Day

by LexLemon



Series: I’ll Build a World Around You [5]
Category: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)
Genre: Breakfast, Domestic fluff at its finest, Gen, Kids just be like that though, Mornings, Rick and Cliff being SOFT AF, Slice of Life, The return of Tracy!!, These two are trying their best, They’re just one little happy family, Where she isn’t just mentioned!!, first-time parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:41:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26054374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LexLemon/pseuds/LexLemon
Summary: It’s just another morning in the Dalton-Booth household where Rick’s getting ready for a day of filming. His daughter’s making it a little hard for them to leave, though.
Relationships: Cliff Booth/Rick Dalton
Series: I’ll Build a World Around You [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852639
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	The Most Important Meal of the Day

“ _The Real Don Steele! 93 KHJ!”_

"Gooooood morning, Boss Angeles! It is 6:30 here in bright and sunny L.A. This is the Real Don Steele with your morning report to start your day of-"

Cliff Booth slammed his hand on top of his radio clock, bringing his bedroom back into silence. He grunted to himself as he pushed himself up on his arm, rubbing at his eyes to wake himself up.

Mornings were never easy for Cliff. He was a night owl through and through. He felt more energized and awake when it was pitch black outside. Mornings just reminded him that there was still work to be done that hadn't been done yet.

As he turned over to the other side of the bed, Cliff saw exactly what made mornings worth it for him. A small smile appeared on his face when he found his boyfriend still fast asleep beside him. Rick Dalton's cheek was curled up underneath one of his arms draped on his pillow, a soft snore escaping his mouth every now and then. The way the sunlight streamed through their window, illuminating his face on the pillow just right, made him look even more beautiful than he already was.

Cliff could look at Rick all day if he could. But real life was quick to call their names, reminding him of the day ahead. Cliff didn't mind, though. After all, they'd have tonight together.

Cliff leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on Rick's forehead, causing his snore to turn into a snort that woke him up. Rick blinked several times as he picked his head up, his blue eyes shining in the morning light.

"Morning," Cliff said in a low voice.

Rick hummed to himself as he rubbed his eyes. "Mornin', Cliff. Did the, uh...alarm go off?"

"Yeah, it did. We better get a move on. You don't want to be late."

"Yeah, yeah." Rick sat up in bed and turned to the side, using his palms to rub his eyes. "'Specially for NBC. They already got b-b-beef with me as it is."

"Ah, come on. You're going to do fine today." Rick felt himself relax once Cliff placed his hand on his shoulder and added, "You got this."

He turned over to look at his boyfriend with a smile. "Thanks, darlin'."

"It's what I'm here for."

The two then leaned in for a quick kiss before finishing off their morning routine. After getting dressed and throwing enough cold water on their faces to wake themselves up, they began to make their way towards the kitchen at the front of the house.

Standing in the hall, Cliff told Rick, "Hey, you want to feed Brandy for me while I take care of the baby?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks."

Once Rick made his way towards the kitchen, Cliff turned into the room adjacent from his and pushed the door open. He walked over to the white crib standing in the center of the room to find his baby daughter blinking her eyes awake as she lay inside of it.

"Good morning, Tracy," he said as he ran his fingers over her hand. "Hi. You doing good? Yeah? You fell back asleep last night?" A soft laugh left Cliff's mouth as he took her into his arms and kissed her cheek. "Let's go see Daddy, huh?"

Cliff led Tracy out of her room and into the kitchen, where Rick picked out two cans of the family pit bull's dog food from the pantry.

"Look who's up and awake," Cliff said as he stood beside his boyfriend.

Rick instantly smiled as he looked over to see Tracy waiting for him. "Well, hello, Tracy." He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. "Hello, pumpkin puss. Good mornin'. Ready to see Daddy off for his b-big TV episode today?"

"She sure is."

Cliff opened one of the upper pantries and scanned the smaller jars of baby food standing at the front. Scrunching his lips, he said aloud, "Hmmm...what are we going to give you?"

Cliff spotted a jar with a picture of asparagus on the front label and picked it up, shrugging as he held it in his hand. "I don't think you've tried this one yet. Might as well get it out of the way."

Tracy reached her hand over to tap her fingers on the jar, making Cliff smile to himself.

"Yeah? You want to try that? Okay. Let's do that."

Taking a spoon with him, Cliff brought Tracy over to the dining room table and set her into her high chair. He sat before her and opened the jar then dipped the spoon into the green mush inside of it.

"Alright, here we go."

Cliff leaned forward and placed the spoon before Tracy, waiting for her to take a bite. A small whine left Tracy's mouth as she sneered at the spoon, her hand tapping against the tray before her.

"Come on, honey. Take a bite." Cliff pouted when he was met with the same result. "What? What is it? You don't want it? Come on. Just one little bite for Papa. Just one. It won't hurt."

Cliff's confidence sagged within him the more he felt his hand hovering before Tracy without moving. Her blank, unwavering stare at the spoon wasn't helping matters either.

His voice began to crack in defeat as he added, "Come on, Tracy. Please? For me? Papa still has to eat too. We...We don't have all morning."

"She’s not eatin'?" Rick called from the kitchen.

Cliff lowered his head with a sigh. "No."

"Let me try." Rick set down the can opener for the dog food and stepped out of the kitchen, making his way over to the table.

"Hey there, Tracy," he said as he bent before her. "You want to t-try eatin' for Daddy? Yeah, come on."

He took the spoon from Cliff and held it before her, giving it several nudges with a smile. The corners of his mouth began to waver when he was met with the same result as Cliff.

"Really? Nothin'? You don't even want to...make an effort?"

"I told you," Cliff said.

"Oh, come on, Tracy. I-I-I-I guarantee it's good. Here, Daddy'll have some and show you how good it is."

Rick placed the spoon in his mouth and immediately felt everything tense up inside of him. A grimace settling on his face, he dashed back into the kitchen and spit the food into the sink with a deep cough.

Cliff couldn't help but laugh as he heard the water from the faucet begin to run. Leaning forward in his seat, he said, "You can't even pretend something tastes good, Rick? I thought you were supposed to be an actor."

Rick spit out the gargle of water he had taken in. "Fuck you, Cliff."

Cliff shook his head and turned back to Tracy, watching as she clasped her hands around the jar in a curious gaze.

"I think your daddy's just a bit of a wuss," he said in a low voice. "I'm sure this tastes yummy. Here, let me try. You'll see."

Cliff dipped the spoon back into the jar and placed it into his mouth. He made a small hum as he smiled at Tracy, but it wasn't long before he realized why Rick reacted the way he did. He curled his lips in and continued to hum, forcing himself to swallow the poor attempt at making asparagus still somehow taste good creamed.

Cliff coughed as he leaned forward and forced himself to smile at Tracy. "Oh yeah. That was...so good, Tracy. So yummy. You should try it," he said in a strained voice.

He thought he could hear Rick's voice muttering underneath the grating of the can opener, "Not so fuckin' funny now, is it?"

To Cliff's surprise, Tracy began to lean forward in her seat and let her mouth settle into a small O. He gasped and took up the spoon again.

"Yeah? Yeah, you want to try it, Tracy? Finally?"

Cliff dipped the spoon back in the jar and held it before Tracy, watching with his eyes aglow as she took it into her mouth.

"Yeah, that's it! Good girl, Tracy. Good job."

All life left his eyes when he heard her make a spitting sound and felt something hit his shoulder. Cliff closed his eyes and took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself to see the horror she had left for him. He turned his head to the side and nodded when he saw just what he had expected: A splotch of green mush pressed into the shoulder of his blue t-shirt.

"Okay," Cliff said with a sigh. "Alright, so I'm not buying this food for you anymore. I got the message, honey. Thank you." Still nodding to himself, he stood up and began making his way back towards the bedroom.

Watching him go, Rick asked, "Where are you goin'?"

"Yeah, you're going to want to tell NBC that you might be a little late."

A small whine left Rick's mouth as he made his way out of the kitchen. He walked back over to Tracy and bent before her, asking in a quiet voice, "Oh, what did you do? What did you do, Tracy?"

Rick couldn't help but laugh the longer he stared into his daughter's eyes, as her face was just too damn cute to be upset with. Shaking his head, he cupped his hand around her cheek and gave her a kiss.

"You are goin' to be a-a-a heap of trouble someday, a-ain't you, darlin'?"

Tracy responded with nothing but a large grin on her face, completely validating both of her fathers' hatred of mornings.


End file.
